Alden Brethren - I've discovered a great secret of the Mac Method that I felt impressed to share today.

I've been struggling with water spots on my Cigar LWBs, and so after a few separate brush sessions, I decided to take a new approach to getting rid of these little things. Followed the method as best as I understand it:

Brush down with a slightly damp cloth.
Particularly rubbed the spots with a little extra "umph" with the damp cloth - not quite a scrub, but more forcefully than the rest of the shoe.
Let dry 2-3 minutes.
Lacking a deer bone, took a teaspoon and rubbed and rolled all over the spotted areas (mainly on the vamp), both pressing down with the spot, as well as rolling over them back and forth. I also used a swirling method to rub them from different angles. (I noticed that this closed up a particularly nasty scratch that I'd gotten on one of the shoes).
Let that sit for 1-2 minutes.
Applied a dose of Renovateur over each shoe separately, allowing the other shoe to set while I did the other.

- This is all normal and expected.

Here, at the brushing time, I did things a bit differently than in the past. Taking my horsehair brush to brush the Reno down in, I started using very heavy strokes of the brush to no avail - the shell still looked a little muddy and clouded. I lightened up the brush strokes (increasing speed/frequency and only allowing the very tip of the bristles to skim the shell) and it began to light up immediately and shine. I noticed the more I relied on friction generated by the brush on the shoe, the better and better it looked, and the more the Reno cleaned up. This is in stark contrast to heavy-handing the brushing, as I'd done previously, almost slathering the brush across the cordovan.

High, light, and fast - at times almost barely making contact. Each shoe for 3-5 minutes and they were sparkling.

So, if any are having issues with their method application, brush high and fast, and don't worry about applying actual pressure during brushing. Let the friction work for you rather than strength.

Super shine. I really like the way the color variations come out in the shoes.

Thanks. So I assume after a while the tongue pad will need to be replaced. How do you plan to remove it?

I guess I was also wondering if it is an indication that you have the wrong size if a tongue pad improves fit. I assume you would say no.

Unless you go bespoke, no shoe will fit perfectly. My feet are wide in the forefoot, with a low instep and smaller heel. The trubalance and modified are good for me, but not perfect. To get the barrie to feel "right," I modify the shoe just a tad.

For foot health, I do recommend going "barefoot" as much as possible (I do yoga and lift weights barefoot/with Vibram FiveFingers). Aldens - and any shoes, really - are for protection and aesthetics more than comfort, unfortunately. Many makers, including Alden, have great lasts and "foot technologies," but a foot should have strong and flexible muscles to alleviate or avoid pain/problems.

thanks, CTYGGG messaged me with this same option... an expensive one at $800+ to ship to the states, need to decide how bad I really want them..

may have to try and sneak in on the leffot order when it arrives.

thanks!

If you look closely, the welt on the bureau shoes is dark stained. A few pages back there was a fantastic example of a diy where the owner sanded the edgetrim down to be natural/antiqued from dark. In this case, you can get a stock #8 LWB and do the same, and save $175 (well, that minus your labor). If the reverse welt was natural, it'd be a different story, though, as de-staining/sanding the reverse welt would be insanely tedious and not worth it imo.